Scene Nine

Mt. Kolts

(Terra, Edgar and Locke climb the slopes of Mt. Kolts. Just as they are about to cross to the other side, they are attacked by a wandering fighter.)

Vargas:
Where hence lies Sabin?
Only in the darkest of deception,
And the cruelest of denials can one lie,
For only he fits the part of flatterer!
Speak now, and tell me of his treachery,
Lest your demise fall total!

Edgar:
Sabin...Sabin doth lie nearby?

Vargas:
Hold fast all conniving speech!
Learned I am in his ways,
And his will regardeth such lowly tactics!
Send he thou to displace from my scorn!
Ever shall pain remaineth, and he no surgeon!!

Locke:
Dastardly brute! Know we nothing of Sabin!

Vargas:
Lies all!

(They fight. Enter Sabin)

Vargas:
Sabin! Lo, you doth show nerve to face me!
I thought such will faded with pride,
Though truly such worth fell justly to me,
Only to be snatched away without care!

Sabin:
Nay, you forget the black truth!
Dear Vargas, much love has wasted,
For you in fury untold did act
In such a manner as to spill life!
Father and teacher to us both was he,
Now nothing more than a feast for worms!

Vargas:
Ah, but forget you that he doth act
In mirrored so manner as to forget,
That I alone fall of his seed!
Foregone was I when you entered,
And foregone I am now that he fell!
Death made you the master,
Yet only by choice of a craven fool!

Sabin:
Hush such lowly word!
Master, in such great wisdom,
Had seen you in place which I stand!

Vargas:
Lies! Spite and more spite I cast upon you!

Sabin:
Twas a spirit unlike any other,
But now it no longer can be seen,
For I relish mine sight,
And as such no sight gives you honor!

Vargas:
Cease thine lies! Have at you!

(They fight, Sabin eventually claiming victory.)

Edgar:
Truly heaven smiles pure,
For to deliver upon this day,
A brother I once chanced as lost!
Be you sound? Be you fit as all?

Sabin:
Dear brother, much vexation has been
The deprivation of familiar consort!
Lie I awake nightly to profess such to God!
Be you aware of such hard word which falls,
Rending Figaro to Imperial ash?

Edgar:
Too dear a price doth be paid.
Never falls the sword without
Steadfast a blow to counter it by!
Petty acts of Imperial will control much,
Yet fail to hold the heart of Figaro!
This much I pledge to send to Gestahl,
So that his image fall swift and clean!

Terra:
Much confusion vex me still,
And no more must be of the sum!
Truly be this man a brother to Figaro?
In bearing I see but a widely brute,
Though refined to poise in grace.
See much in blood say my eyes,
Yet only your words can mend my percept!

Sabin:
Though of poise I find grace,
And of truth I be of the blue,
Much else has no mark save to me,
For royal ties bind me not to a throne!
Edgar rules with just hand,
And all else falls to ill reception.

Locke:
Be we in haste for Banon?
He surely awaits a fine word,
And as such we have one or two to give!

Sabin:
As I might as well.
Be I a credit of value,
My wish is to show faith in good cause!
No cause can be of higher import,
Or perhaps of less futility,
Than to bounce the Imperial Monarch!

Edgar:
Gladly, dear brother! Truly a credit,
And even moreso be your aid!

Locke:
Then let us away, as we march by north!

(Exeunt All)

Scene Ten

The Returner Hideout

(The trio arrive at the secret Returner Base, and are brought before Banon to discuss Terra's role in the upcoming war.)

Guard:
What ho! Who goes there?
Be you friend or foe?

Edgar:
Tis I, Returner brother!
Ask I audience with fair lord,
So that in wisdom I see
Where once confusion held court!

Guard:
Hail, King Edgar! Last seen
You held much love in his eyes!
Be you and company so inclined,
I shalt escort you myself forthwith!

(They are brought inside and meet with Banon)

Banon:
Greetings King Edgar and loyal Locke!
Be this a matter of broken rights,
That Gestahl doth force you here this night?

Locke:
Tis but a scratch of Imperial force!
No harm befell a man of Figaro,
Yet left in the wake men southern colour!
From Arvis I bid greeting, as well as here,
A child of grand senses most strange!
Void of hold, free will brought her to us.
Now she stands to meet your gaze,
And see the word fall clean from honest lips!

Banon (eyeing Terra):
Word from the south came gray,
Now no seasoned gossip persuade full hearts,
Yet in blame fault follows like a tail,
That many soldiers lost their breath,
Engaged with but one foe.
Pitted against this young girl,
No man stood chance versus the throne!

Terra:
Sheer spite! Never held I such a grudge!

Locke:
Banon! Truth passes her mind in total!
A space most dark fills a will most bland,
For no trained killer of men have we,
But a soul pure of all blame,
As wills outside her sphere made all offence!

Banon:
Long tales speak of a terrible day,
When all mankind lost it claim to purity,
When a stale of black ignorance,
Opened the fate of men,
Gathered in sides of six!
Anger, hatred, lust, pride, violence,
All dark tidings spilled forth
A never ending wave of horror!
Left in aftermath most uncertain,
Was found one weapon to counter,
And one weapon alone!
Mankind was left with hope,
One shinning hope to cut back hell itself!
Believe in your eyes, child,
For a mirror of truth they confide,
That bless'd be the will of this girl!
Sincere is my mind in belief!
Gestahl holds court in broken will,
As indeed the south lies broken still!
Against his foul temper is my hope,
That thou has eyes to see my word!

Edgar:
Know not ye of tidings past?
To seal so certain a doom,
Before life hast time to bloom?
Pitch such thought,
And hold steadfast to care!
Brew upon your mind as yet,
For foul wakes such hands,
That would wrest your life,
And use it for darkness!

(Curtain falls)

Scene Eleven:

(Terra and the rest of the Returners are gathered around a table in the main hall, discussing the upcoming battle against the Empire)

Banon:
Your thoughts and ears, I pardon!
Much certainty falls on Gestahl,
For in his arsenal is power great!
Magitek power flows through
The veins of this colossus!
Nary my mind falls to play,
Where did he acquire such strength in this day?

Edgar:
Locke has been a shadow,
Though in his dark travels,
Much light has been shed.
Truth be known,
Many a man of wisdom be chained,
Forced by Gestahl to study,
Though it be the ways of old, not new!
He asks not for cannons or guns,
But revives such tales of magic!

Banon:
In my mind many thoughts dwell,
Yet a single which hold this tale!
Magitek and Espers he seeketh now,
As in the days of old battle,
Per say the War of the Magi!

All: NO! It cannot be! (And other such various murmuring)

Sabin:
A war of such length and pow'r,
Our ways were lost a thousand fold!
Be such tragedy about to unfold anew?

Banon:
Gestahl hold no bound for power,
And foolishness often follow suit!
Ne'er forget that flattery mask cleverness!
Be on guard that the south shall come,
And in such time Narshe fall to woe!
The Esper of the same may ally yet,
But with a force which falls against,
And battles for the common good!
The stuff of the end lies in Gestahl's hands,
Yet a ray of hope lies with us still!
Terra can speak with the tongue,
For she casts as a mage of yore.
Be she to speak with the beast,
Then heaven smiles upon us with mercy!

Terra:
By word of my mind,
Such tasks lie only to me,
Now I proclaim to side with the light!
Council I will hold with the creature,
Mayhaps to our glory and benefit!

Sabin:
Belief finds no hold on my senses!
Such tone aggravates all logic!
Speak you as if this were sport!

Banon:
Ne'er the matter now it seems,
As I...

(A noise interrupts the meeting - a sound of someone falling through the doorway.)

Locke:
What foul happens afoot?

(They run to the entrance and see a wounded Returner stumbling into the room.)

Returner:
Sir...Sir Banon!
Gestahl doth...doth approach!
Soldiers uncounted gather at Mt. Kolts!
Barely half a day's ride slows their path!

Banon:
Indeed! Now we must make haste!
To Narshe I shall ride on the river Lete!
Terra and Edgar, follow Sabin as well,
For such peril as awaits may require
Strength as known only to Figaro!

Edgar:
Wise be the voice of Banon!
To Locke I say only this,
That if on Kolts the Empire treads,
Then South Figaro be in further distress!
Muster your courage and sally south!

Locke:
To slow their progress?
Thou hast enlisted pure a rogue!
Yet concern floods mine heart,
That Terra be on guard,
And ne'er merely from swine of the south,
Yet from the advance of a silver tongue,
Attach'd to most royal a mouth!

Edgar:
Stay thy course! Away be you, thief!

(Locke smiles at first, but is hurt by the thief remark. Only the urgency of the situation dictates that he not remove Edgar's lungs with his dirk. Banon, Terra, Edgar and Sabin all head for the raft to take them to the Lete, and soon they are on their way toward Narshe.)

(Curtain)